


trust & belief (that double-edged sword)

by grassangel



Series: Five sentence fic and other short formats [9]
Category: Marvel Puzzle Quest (Video Game), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate History, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - USSR, Angst, Angst?, Ficlet, Gen, I certainly angsted over this, Inspired by Fanfiction, Not Beta Read, Politics, because authoritarianism is never fun, this was not a fun write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 13:17:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20639804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grassangel/pseuds/grassangel
Summary: a ficlet inspired by MPQ's Gwen Prix node "Comrade Russia: Spetsnaz Spectacle"or,Steve wakes to a world wholly different to the one he left. He doesn't entirely trust what he's been told, but he does trust his friends.





	trust & belief (that double-edged sword)

**Author's Note:**

> Marvel Puzzle Quest is currently (as of the 13th of September, 2019) running an event called 'Gwen Prix', a five-day event where you are offered the choice between two nodes every day. And, the devs being the nerds they are, the nodes are presented as fanfics - teams of three opponents with a fic-like summary explaining the combo. Since they are completely open to fic, (there is verbal record of this being said on a podcast!) I've decided, perhaps unwisely, to either track down fic which fits, or write a ficlet myself.
> 
> The first day offered a choice between _'Widow, P.I.'_, a sort of CSI/Private Investigator AU starring Natasha and co-starring Bucky and Colossus or _'Comrade Russia: Spetsnaz Spectacle'_, basically Communist Avengers with Steve, Tony and Peter Parker. And if there is fic close enough to the latter, I can't find it. So unfortunately I have to write it.
> 
> Thanks dev team, I hope you like this, despite its bleakness.

A lot had changed while he'd been under the ice. From what Steve could gather - the exact historical details dangerously, and worryingly, hard to come by - a conspiracy to commit treason against the US by the US government had been discovered and exposed by Russian intelligence and the resulting instability and distrust had shook America apart. The United States of America no longer spanned from shore to shining shore, the former states now a mix of Soviet territories, supposedly independent republics that mostly relied on the Soviet Union for trade and a few small independent countries that had formed their own trade union.  
Steve didn't think it was wise for a single political bloc to be so large, so powerful, to control so much of the world, but– 

He trusted Bucky, who was amazingly, incredibly, alive. He was scarred, yes, and there was a hollowness to his eyes that reminded Steve of the shell-shocked veterans of his childhood, but his hand was still solid and steady when he slung his arm around Steve's shoulders like he had before the first war they had fought together. Bucky believed what they were doing was good, so Steve believed as well.

Steve also trusted Peggy, who hadn't escaped time like he and Bucky had, the details in her memories all misaligned and misremembered, but who still smiled at him the same, her hand's bony grip still strong. She showed him newspaper clippings and history books - how South America flourished without its northern neighbour's monolithic presence, the spread of democracy and suffrage through the Middle East. Peggy had lived through the changes that had brought this new world, believed the world was better for them, so Steve believed it was as well.

He did not believe Peggy when it came to Howard's son, Anthony, who was twice as smart as his father and whose words were as slick and slippery as silk. He too believed the world was better for the changes that had happened while Steve had been gone, that technology would've gotten stuck in a rut otherwise, that their diodes and chips would not nearly be as small, as advanced, if history had taken a smoother path. Steve knew how hunger deadened creativity, and Tony put too much stock into machines and intelligence derived from complicated algorithms, for Steve to be comfortable trusting that all this technology was truly 'better'.  
But Tony was also ten times more pragmatic and willing to put in the hard work than his father ever was; hands covered in burns and shoulders thick with the muscle than had earned him his moniker 'Ironmonger'. He was dedicated and committed, and Steve respected that, so he believed what Tony said about this being the best possible future as well. 

The fact that Peter Parker had grown up in this world that was so alien to Steve gave him pause, for the kid hadn't known anything else. But the teen was razor-sharp and his enthusiasm infectious, and his stubborn, optimistic belief reminds Steve of what he had believed in so long ago. It's enough to make him trust the kid and his belief that they're doing the right thing.

Steve Rogers, formerly Captain America, might not trust Commander Pierce's encouraging comments that he's made the right decision, but he does trust his friends. So he dons the ushanka with its black embroidered two-headed eagle almost buried in the deep pile of its fur, takes on title 'Comrade Russia' and leads his team to the next fight.


End file.
